Nothing to Fear
by StuffedSuperstars
Summary: ...but fear itself.


Katara decides she isn't afraid of Zuko. The fact that he's tied her up to a tree and stolen- yes she's sure _stolen_ is the correct word- her mother's necklace only adds to her resentment and loathing towards him. But the fact that he doesn't threaten her, only makes promises and bribes, and the fact that he does nothing at her _request _for him to go jump in a river almost makes the feeling of fear toward the young man deteriorate. The big bad monster she used to see him as evolves into human being before her eyes.

No, not afraid of him.

But just as the feeling of fear floods out, the feeling of hatred grows and replaces it.

* * *

Zuko's surprise at himself almost overrides the feel of fear itself. He doesn't think it's possible- to be _afraid _of this little Water Tribe girl. This little Water Tribe girl who is beating him back and keeping him from his ultimate goal.

She successfully keeps him away from the vacant body of the Avatar for a while and he's frustrated at her, at himself, because what he wants- or _needs_- is only a few feet away and he can't get to it.

As the calm oasis is ravaged by their battle, he thinks that it might be a cruel metaphor for the rest of his life. Everything he needs is just beyond his grasp. The Avatar is just beyond his grasp and she will always be in the way.

The stranger of a feeling washes away when he feels the surge of power rising inside him. If he even felt the ghost of a man afraid before, it doesn't exist anymore. He almost smirks. _The sun is rising._

* * *

What seems like forever ago, Katara decided he was a human being. She thinks maybe there will be one less thing to worry about; maybe she'll have a new ally. Maybe he's found that what he was after isn't what he needs after all.

She thinks maybe she's testing how bad the scar is. Maybe she's testing out whether he'll hurt her if she gets too close, she wants to know if his intentions are pure. But in the back of her mind, she wonders if maybe she's just curious. If she just wants to feel the skin of a boy too young for the troubles he's faced. She thinks maybe she'll be able to heal him and put a new face in her mind, fitting to the new person he'll become.

Her stomach flips a bit when he's right in front of her and her breath hitches in her throat. She passes the feeling off as fear for what might happen if she fails. (She knows well enough he won't hurt her for a reason as petty as that.)

And then Aang is there. And the moment is shattered, but she doesn't care because she's free.

Later, when she heals Aang, she thinks about how he would be gone if she had done what she planned with Zuko. And then she wonders if any of this would have occurred in the first place, had she done what she planned.

* * *

He fears her. Not because she threatened him just days before and not because she's doing something to the Captain that has him moving against his will. (He chooses to ignore the latter for the time being, figuring it is neither the time nor place to be asking) He fears her because of the passion that rages inside her. A passion for her mother that went so far she would avenge her death. A passion for Aang that went so far she would take Zuko's life if it meant saving Aang's.

And then, only because all he had were his thoughts while steering Appa, he thought of Mai and her lack of passion. Mai is a marble statue- pale and beautiful, cold and unmoving. Katara could be a flame, if she wanted. She burns with every emotion, be it anger or hatred or hope or...love.

Zuko's eyes widen as abstract image fragments of Katara invade his mind. Her nails digging into the pale flesh of his back, his fingers woven into a tangle of chocolate waves, her breath ghosting over his neck, his shoulder, his collarbone...her neck arching back as she sighed his name... he coughed once, expelling the thoughts without a sideways glance.

_No_, he muses to distract himself,_ I_ _don't fear her. I admire her_.

* * *

Katara is a little bit scared that someone will recognize them. She knows it's near impossible, but still. And after a far-from-perfect beginning, she's a little bit scared of what her actress might do, too.

And when her actress shares a little-more-than-friendly embrace with "Zuko" it only adds to her uneasiness. She scoots away from Zuko, wondering where on _Earth_ the playwrights got the notion that something so intimate happened that day. Although, she did get rather close, perhaps a little bit closer than was necessary in the caverns. Nonetheless, the thought of getting so close to him in _that_context put her on edge. The thought was terrifying and scandalous and dishonorable and... strangely tempting.

She blames her teenage-girl hormones and keeps her distance from Zuko for the rest of the night, fearing just how far her _hormones_ would make her go. She doesn't bother to acknowledge the fact that her hormones do nothing when _Aang_ kisses _her_.

* * *

He's not scared of his sister until her gaze shifts.

* * *

She doesn't fear Azula exactly. She doesn't really fear for his life either. It's not seeing him convulse that pushes her into motion; it's the thought of moving through life without her friend, without Zuko.

He says her name. He's alive.

She's not afraid of anything.

* * *

Years and years later, Zuko is an old man. Katara lives in the Southern Water Tribe. They haven't seen each other in a long time. His stomach turns in ways he doesn't believe possible anymore as the ship docks. He's made an effort to look nice. She asks about his daughter. He asks about her son. When she throws her arms around him, the fear melts into nothing.

"I've missed you, Zuko."

"I've missed you too, Katara."


End file.
